Publish date30 Aug 2014 - 17:27
Story Code : 167598

'We should be pioneers of rapprochement'

University of Religions and Denominations seeks security, peace and harmony, and to prove this it does attempt to participate in studies on Religions and Civilizations in today world through fundamental and scientific studies and researches without any prejudice or dogmatism.

Taqrib News Agency (TNA): University of Religions and Denominations seeks security, peace and harmony, and to prove this it does attempt to participate in studies on Religions and Civilizations in today world through fundamental and scientific studies and researches without any prejudice or dogmatism.

The university holds neutral attitudes toward other religions, respect them, and try to know them well enough. Now the university, along with some other international centers, covers these goals.

It has begun this path toward which many students have showed tendency. Initiating our mission in 1995 under the name of "The Center for Studies of Religions", Iranian religious clerics and unity activists followed some internal educational programs.

In a four-year period, these programs covered English, Sanskrit and Hebrew languages, and the students followed academic studies along with their seminary studies.

In religions and Denominations subject the university trained tens of experts who now hold M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. Unity activists also established the first specialized library of Religions with thousands of specialized books in various languages.
The specialized quarterly of religions, named Haft Aseman, has been another activity of theirs.
Given the above lines, Taqrib News Agency (TNA) had an exclusive interview with Head of the University, hojjatol Islam Val Moslemin Navvab.

What follows here is a gist of his interview with TNA:


Qs: Roughly 10 years elapsed since the University of Religions and Islamic Denominations has been established. Would you please delineate the process of gaining momentum in the rapprochement area by this university.

Before the victory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I traveled to some foreign countries and still have such trips as well. In point of fact the axioms of my activities is religious promotion.


In 1373 I came to this concluding that we did not understand the religious world and the religious world also did not know us.

To me, mounting and partaking in various conferences and summit cannot lead to the deep understanding. Given that we started establishing a center for studying religions and denominations.


To forward this objective, we face up with so many ups and downs.
We invited some of religious elites and scientists to collaborate with us, giving scholarship to students from different universities.
It took us 10 years that we could train our professors and gather and edit our required resources.


Qs: How is your relation with other universities working in the same area of religions and denominations?

There stand so many religious centers and institutes worldwide but none of them works under the title of Religion University which deals only with
the cognition and understanding of religions and denominations.


Qs: how is your relation with similar religious centers outside of the country?

We get in touch with almost all scientific centers worldwide. In the last trip I had a trip to Egypt. We inked a contract with some universities including Al-Azhar, Ein Al-Shams and Cairo. But unfortunately thereafter the unrest rocked the country our tie was cut. We also signed good contracts with universities in Pakistan, Malaysia and European universities.



Qs: Does scientific faculty members of the university have the chance to take a Sabbatical outside of the country?

Yes some of our faculty members went to the U.S, South Africa and some other countries. I can say our university has operated more than its capacity.



Qs: Hows your relation with religious seminaries? Since seminaries have traditional way while you take Academic Avenue?

The content of our courses are derived from seminaries but our method is academic once. This methods worked and was welcomed very well. Roughly 80 percent of this university professors are from seminaries.


We have a strengthened tie and mutual relation with religious seminaries. As for Shialogy, Salafi, Wahhabism and deviated schools, we work in tandem with religious seminaries. We wrote different books about Shia, Sunni which have been published for several times and to us, the university actively cooperated with Seminaries.



Qs: How do you appraise the process of Islamic religions rapprochement? Where are we standing in the rapprochement area?

The movement of the World Forum for proximity of the Islamic Schools of Though is very good but not enough. As the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran uses any opportunity
to offer the issue of unity and rapprochement; our country, universities, seminaries, educated people and all of our nations should be the messengers of rapprochement.

Rapprochement is beyond an institute. The World Forum should be active and forward rapprochement related discussions. All the people, like the leader should be familiar with the issue of rapprochement and should support it.


Qs: What factors cast a shadow over this process?
The main obstacle is being narrow minded and traditional way of thinking. The recent wave of extremism in the plagued situation in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and Tunisia make us to make a move in this area.

Such extremist measures made us know our duties toward each other. Extremist misdeeds help us to forward the rapprochement process in the world. And the enemies help us to make a move and uphold our solidarity, unity and rapprochement.


Qs: What is the duty of media in the unity and rapprochement area?

In my book, people should be like to their own Imams. The leadership, in the here and now, is a leadership in Proximity avenue, by its entire means.

My suggestion is that all the people in Iran should be active in the area of rapprochement. Through holding conferences, seminars in universities, cultural centers, they should provide the fertile ground for upholding unity. We have to be the pioneer of rapprochement.


I mentioned so many times that our worst challenge is the issue of Shia and Sunni and all the people should live with this issue. It would seem on the face of that the issue of rapprochement and sitting at talks with Sunnis got part of our lives.
/SR
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